National Equality March: Pressuring More than the Grass

October 14th, 2009, by
AMITA PARASHAR

It was an unseasonably hot day in Washington D.C. when tens of thousands of activists marched to the capitol Sunday demanding federal rights for gay and lesbian Americans. Supporters walked two miles past the White House, decked out in rainbow flags, rainbow tights, rainbow scarves. There was even a giant rainbow flag stretched on the Capitol lawn. If there ever was a day to march, this was it.

The timing of the march was deliberate. Forty years ago, the Stonewall rebellion sparked the American gay rights movement. And now, a sympathetic president and Democratic congress could be the key to passing some long-awaited legislation on a federal level.

However, many in the LGBT community feel Congress and President Obama have been too slow to act.

Obama spoke the night before the rally and vowed to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the policy that bans gays from the military. He repeated his support to the gay community: “It’s not for me to tell you to be patient anymore than it was for others to counsel patience to African Americans petitioning for equal rights half a century ago.”

I noticed one supporter holding a sign that read “First Class Taxpayer, Second Class Citizen.” This march, fundamentally, was about elevating that status.

A recent analysis by The New York Times estimated that gay couples spend anywhere from $41,000 to nearly $470,000 more during their lifetimes than their heterosexual counterparts in health benefits, legal fees, social security and more. Nearly all of these costs would be eliminated if federal benefits were extended to same-sex couples.

Will the march spark a new movement like Dr. King’s historic speech did 46 years ago? Probably not. But it served as an important reminder to Congress, to President Obama, and, most importantly, to ourselves that there is a lot of work to be done and that we all need to be on the same page to do it.

Congressman Frank didn’t approve of the equality march, but that’s only a piece of a heavily fractured movement.

Gay bloggers are angry (see here, here and here) with the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBT lobbying group in the country, for allowing President Obama to speak at their dinner.

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